The Absent Fathers Club
by PandoraTheFox
Summary: Still searching to find their missing father, Dean and Sam Winchester come across an odd hunting trio known as the Novaks. After meeting them, Dean concludes that Gabriel's an ass, Anna's insane, and Castiel is...well, Dean isn't sure what to make of him. When they're all forced to team up, Dean begins to fall in love with the enigmatic Castiel. But what are the Novaks hiding? AU
1. The Potential Prologue

**Author's Note: Okay, so this is definitely an AU and goes on some time between early to mid season one. I always loved the idea of the angel characters to be written and made as hunters, so I decided to make this. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll be happy to answer (if the plot for this will allow me too xD). Disclaimer: Of course these characters aren't mine! Last time I checked, I'm not a genius named Eric Kripke (oh but what fun would I have screwing with this fandoms emotions if it were true).**

* * *

"What the hell, Cassie? Are you trying to friggin' _murder _me?" A fairly short man with honey blonde hair and sparkling amber eyes exclaimed as he threw the object in his hand down on the bed and pointed at it in complete and utter horror.

Another man, younger than the other one with inky black hair and ivory skin that complimented his stormy blue irises, rolled his eyes, "It's a salad, Gabriel, not cyanide."

"Well, at least cyanide has flavor!" The other man, Gabriel, argued with a huff as he picked up the prepackaged plastic bowl of vegetables and held it out for the man to see, "Honestly, I know putting that dead eel in your bed while you were sleeping was _maybe _a little too much, but seriously? I trust you to bring me back some _decent _food and this is how you betray me?"

"My sincerest apologies," The man mumbled sarcastically as he turned his attention back to the laptop screen in front of him, "I didn't know you would rather face the hard struggles of obesity, diabetes, weakening immune system, and bone softening than actually digest something healthy for once."

"Oh don't worry about me, Baby Brother," Gabriel said with a smirk as he unwrapped a lollipop that he magically pulled out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, "I'll make sure to get my body slimmed down _just _in time for swimsuit season."

The blue eyed man didn't respond, simply choosing to ignore his distracting brother and instead keepig his gaze locked on the computer as he skimmed the whole article and declared, "I think I found us a new case."

"Let me guess," Gabriel teased as he took the sucker out of his mouth to grin wildly at him, "We're gonna team up with Agents Mulder and Scully to finally find little ole lost Samantha?"

The man's dark eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he finally tore his intense gaze off of the screen to look questionable at his older brother, but before he could say anything, Gabriel just rolled his eyes and sighed, "Sorry, I forgot. You're still stuck in the sixteenth century when it comes to that stuff. But please, do go on."

The boy shot one more confused look at Gabriel before finally complying to his request as he read the title aloud, "_'Witnesses Claim Victims Saw Deceased Loved Ones Just Hours Before Murdered.'_ I'm thinking a ghost hoard perhaps…?"

"Damn, another one already?" Gabriel whined as he flopped down onto one of the abandoned springy mattresses, "C'mon, Cassie, we just dealt with one of those bastards a _month_ ago in Minnesota! I mean, seriously, ever heard of a little variety every now and then?"

"Gabriel, your boredom over our recent cases due to lack of challenge and diversity isn't of import." The man told him more exasperatedly than annoyed, as if the blonde haired man's complaining was a normal occurrence that happened daily, "Our own creature preferences doesn't matter as long as we kill the monster, or monsters if that whole ambush in Rio ever happens again, and save innocent lives in the process."

"Oh Cassandra, you know I love it when you get all righteous on me like that," Gabriel just about leered at him as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and purred, "It gets my Nether-Regions quivering just thinking about it."

The man scoffed, "Yes, because that's always what you want to hear from your sibling—"

"Stay away from me!" A panicked female voice coming from the other room hissed loudly before the sound of something glass shattering on the ground filled their eardrums as the voice yelled, "I said, _STAY AWAY!_"

At the sound of the voice, both men's faces darkened as the once light and friendly atmosphere suddenly grew heavier with tension. Their muscles clenched together instantly but it wasn't in alarm; instead it was in a knot-twisting sense of utter dread that seeped deep into their bones sine they both knew what they would see once they opened the thin wooden door that separated their tiny motel room from hers, and they were also sure that they wouldn't like it one bit.

Finally, it was the dark haired man (it was always the dark haired man who cared after her when she got into episodes like this) who rose to his feet and moved to the door, "I'll go check on her and make sure she hasn't injures herself. I suppose you can research the recent death history on the town."

"Castiel," Gabriel said soberly, a thing that seemed to rarely ever happen, and made the other man come to a stop as the blonde got to his feet and rummaged through a black duffle bag before pulling out a medicine bottle and holding it out to him, "Make sure she takes some of these; it'll at least help calm her down."

"She's not a dog, Gabriel," Castiel said sharply as he took the bottle out of his hand and threw it to the ground, "She's our sister for heaven's sake. We can't just shove useless pills down her throat just to make ourselves feel better." He paused briefly for a moment before adding in a quiet yet stern tone, "Besides, you know average medication won't help her…condition."

"It doesn't hurt to try—" Gabriel began to say but was cut off by Castiel storming into the other room and slamming the door shut, leaving the honey haired man alone with his abandoned lollipop already melting in his now sticky hand.

Castiel only felt his anger lighten once the door closed behind him, knowing that his older brother was only trying to help yet feeling incredibly frustrated that no one else seemed to understand his sister's _situation _other than him.

But his remaining rage was soon replaced with heart-wrenching sorrow as he finally caught sight of his sister—his once strong, courageous sister that never let anything get the best of her—standing on wobbly legs around the huge area of shattered glass with bloodshot eyes and trembling hands. She was wearing a plain white nightgown that hung loosely on her petite frame—something she wore often when she got into her horrid moods like this and neither Castiel nor Gabriel could wrestle her into anything else other than a simple baggy gown—and her used to be radiant ivory skin that had already faded into a deathly pale complexion; the only color on her was her fiery red hair and the pads of her bare feet that were now bloodied in result of stomping on the shards of broken glass.

Her steady blue eyes remained trained on the floor without even casting a sideways glance at him, which caused Castiel to believe that she had not even heard him come in; the voices in her head must've drowned it out.

"Anna," Castiel said soothingly in a low, careful voice, slowly reaching out to softly cradle her narrow wrist, "You're hurt. Sit back down on the bed while I clean this up and tend to your feet."

She remained frozen and unblinking; like a beautiful yet tragic statue that stood motionless as the forever changing outside world passed it by. Castiel hated when she was like this; it only made him more exhausted with worry and caused even deeper bags to reside under his tired lifeless eyes. He also hated it because Castiel knew he couldn't do anything to take the pain away except treat her like a two year old when in reality she was even older than him.

"Annie," He said even softer, almost inaudibly now, and carefully put his hands on her shoulders and led her over to the bed, "Look, I promise I'll take care of you in just a moment; I just need to pick the glass up so you won't accidentally cut yourself anymore."

She didn't respond and just let him take her over to the bed (a task she would scream and kick and fight if anyone else ever attempted to do—even Gabriel isn't allowed to touch her most the times when she's like this), sitting down without even a murmur of protest.

Castiel smiled gratefully at her as he pushed a stray strand of red hair out of her face and let his hand linger on her cheek, "There we go." He tried to ignore the fleeting ache in his chest when she didn't return his smile (usually there's at least a twitch at the corner of her mouth when he displayed his unwavering sibling affection he only shared with her) as he took a step back and grabbed the old broom and rotted dust-pan from the corner of the beaten walls of her own separate room (he and Gabriel both reluctantly agreed it was easier to work and focus on the hunt at hand instead of constantly fussing over her while she peacefully slept the day away) and swept the slivers of fractured glass up. But as he started to throw the pieces away, his odd little habit of wanting perfect neatness (a real disorder known as OCD but Gabriel just referred to it as a side-effect to the "long stick up his ass" while Anna, or used to when she was mentally stable, called him just a "clean enthusiast") began to get in the way, and before he could control himself, Castiel had already swept the used to be dust-ridden surface into a display of pure spotlessness. Now, if only he had a trusty mop with him—

"I didn't…know…you were the maid…here." He was startled to hear Anna say (though it sounded like something the _normal _Anna would say, he could tell by the terrible strain in her hoarse voice that it took an extreme amount of effort to do so).

Castiel's heart soared but he managed to keep his face blank (he had learned early on in his broken childhood to mask his true emotions to appear like bland indifference) as he replied coolly, "It appears like that form of employment is nonexistent at this facility." There was a straggled noise that Castiel identified as his sister trying to let out a humored snort, but sadly it seemed like _they _had taken away her ability to laugh along with her peace of mind.

Castiel dumped the glass mingled in dust into the trashcan and strolled over to get bandages to dress her wounded feet. Once acquiring them (along with some salves and such to help take the sting and bacteria out of the cuts), Castiel walked over and knelt down in front of his sister, taking her dainty yet bloody feet into his hands as he got to work. It wasn't the first time she had broken something nor injured herself; really, it wasn't even the first time she had managed to do both simultaneously. Honestly, almost nothing seemed to surprise Castiel when it came to the brink of Anna's mental state.

And that scared him even more than all the evil supernatural creatures combined.

They didn't exchange words with one another as he attended to her feet with Anna refusing to do anything other than fixate her gaze somewhere off in the distance with the same pained expression she usually wore and Castiel refusing to push her for anything more.

"There." Castiel just about whispered as he knotted the last of the bandages and carefully lifted her legs to rest comfortably on the bed with the rest of her, "No big deal; it was hardly a fuss." As he uttered out the last word, his eyes found the wall clock looming over them and he was surprised to see that it was already nine o'clock. Turned out the werewolf fiasco took him and Gabriel longer than he'd first thought.

"Anna, it's time to go to bed now," Castiel told her as he switched his gaze back on his sister and found his hands already reaching out to pull the covers over her so she won't get cold any time during the breezy night, "Try to get some rest tonight, okay? You only slept five hours last night." _And I only slept two, _Castiel added in his head but quickly buried that bitter thought deep inside his subconscious. It wasn't Anna's fault she needed more looking after than most girls her age (really, most twenty-five year olds spent their nights partying at local bars and going home with strange men, not being forced into yet another sleepless night as the monsters inside their heads torturing them endlessly at every waking hour); just like it wasn't neither her nor Gabriel's fault that it always had to be Castiel to tend to her (she and Castiel always shared a more profound bond with one another than with any other of their siblings—even with Gabriel, whom probably felt like the odd man out now a days considering that all their other siblings had ran out on them; ran out, or were already dead).

As he flipped the light-switch off (but made sure to leave a few night-lights on for Anna's sake, who always screamed bloody murder when she was ever in complete darkness) and lightly kissed her forehead, Castiel hoped that maybe she would rest peacefully tonight while he and Gabriel pack everything up to leave first thing in the morning. But just as he began to move away, he felt a slender hand grip the cuff of his trench coat tightly as if it were holding on for dear life and force him to a stop as he heard Anna's broken voice plead, "D-Don't l-leave me. Y-You c-can't leave me a-alone with t-them."

Castiel knew he probably wasn't going to receive a wink of sleep that night but couldn't bring himself to care as his sister's begging voice sent waves of physical pain through him.

"Never, Anael," Castiel said softly but strongly as he sat on the side of the bed and clasped his hand into hers, "I would _never _leave you alone."

"They're coming, Cas," Anna whispered so breathlessly that Castiel had to strain his ears to hear her, "The angels. They're coming."

Castiel's heart did a somersault at the mentioning of "angels," a word Anna had never in her life used in her vocabulary up until she began to get ill and lost touch with reality, but he kept his voice steady and firm as he said sternly, "The angels won't get you, Anna. I promise you that."

"They're not coming just for us this time, Cas," Anna said and for a moment, Castiel could've sworn he saw a flash of white light flicker in her usual dark and lifeless eyes but quickly assured himself that he must have imagined it, "They're coming for them, too."

"Them?" Cas repeated questionably, recalling that this was the first time Anna had ever said the "angels" were coming for anyone else besides she, Cas, and Gabriel.

"The Winchesters," She whispered but it didn't sound as if it was his sister's gentle and smooth voice speaking but instead it was another's—a voice that held power, poise, confidence, and a deadly coldness that sent shivers down Castiel's spine as it continued, "We have work for them." And just like that, her eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off into a deep sleep, leaving Cas alone to another cold and lonely night for him to deal with his own infinite worries.

And one of those worries was in the front of his mind and kept replaying over and over again with the answer feeling as if it was just on the tip of his tongue:

Who were the Winchesters? And what, if they even existed at all, were their names doing inside his sister's ill mind?

* * *

"I'm just saying, Sammy," Dean said with a shrug as he hid his mouth by taking a long sip of his beer, careful to conceal his smirk, "That girl back there seemed to really dig you."

"It wasn't just a _girl, _Dean," San replied exasperatedly as he ran a hand through his tangling mop of brown hair, "She was a psychotic vampire. The same psychotic vampire who, if the memory of the longest three hours of my life serves me right, tied me to a bed and tried to suck my blood."

"Hey, everyone has their own kinks," Dean said as he removed the can from his face so his brother had full view of his shit-eating grin, "I mean, I banged a chick that made me try on her underwear." He shrugged, "Wasn't so bad."

"So you're saying I should've acted like a Koolaid Jammer and let her drain me dry just for the possibility that I might've enjoyed dying?" Sam asked with a roll of his eyes as he sat down on one of the rickety mattresses and opened up his laptop.

"You gotta put yourself out there sometimes," Dean told him, the drop in pitch and the lack of mockery in his voice making it clear he wasn't entirely kidding anymore, "I mean, it's been months since the whole—"

"The whole thing about me abandoning my unprotected girlfriend to join my brother, who hadn't spoken to me in years, find our father that wanted absolutely nothing to do with me in the first place and then finally come home to find her pinned to the ceiling as she burst into flames?" Sam finished sourly as his tapping on the keyboard became more violent with each word said, trying to keep his tone light when in reality it only made him sound even more bitter, "Sorry if that _lovely _experience may make me a little hesitant to want to have another relationship for a while."

Dean went silent for a moment, staring at his beer can in his hand thoughtfully before he set it down on the wooden table in front of him and turned his gaze over to his brother, making his tone gentle as if afraid that his words would break him, "Sam, I didn't mean—"

"I know, Dean," Sam interrupted him in a low voice, his eyes never leaving the computer screen, "You were only trying to help." He then let out a long sigh as he finally dragged his gaze over to where his brother sat, "But you know how you can really help me? Find Dad and the thing that did this to Jess," Sam paused before looking compelled to add, "And to Mom, too."

Dean felt a sudden wave of shame overcome him as he broke eye-contact and stood up out of his wobbly chair, coming over to stand behind his brother to look over his shoulder, "Find anything?"

Sam's tensed shoulders relaxed, looking relieved at the change of subject, and nodded, "Victims apparently seeing their dead relatives before biting the dust on the outskirts of Wyoming."

"Ghosts?" Dean guessed with a shrug.

"Possibly," Sam answered, "Or maybe a shifter looking to torment their vics before the kill."

"So either a shitload of vengeful spirits looking to ice off their loved ones or a shifter just being a dick," Dean said before shrugging again, "So, just the usual."

"But make sure not to get framed for murder this time." Sam told him in a sober tone, trying to angle his face away so his brother wouldn't see his smile.

Though by the way Dean smacked him on the back of his head and muttered, "Bitch," he apparently failed.

"Jerk." Sam replied easily as he slid the laptop off his lap and began walking to the door, "You wanna get something to eat before heading to Wyoming?"

"Dude, since when have I _ever _turned down food?" Dean demanded with a grin, causing Sam to roll his eyes as he made his way out the door, leaving it open for his brother to follow.

Dean tried to keep his spirits up as he grabbed their stuff and followed after his brother, but Sam's words still remained at the back of his mind to remind him of what he had done to wreck his little brother's picture perfect life. All because Dean was selfish and thought that maybe—just _maybe_—he could get Sam to miss his old hunting life and region him and their father on their hopeless crusade.

But he should've known it was a lost cause; Sam had a new life—his own apartment, his own friends, his own smoking hot girlfriend, his own promising future—why would anyone willingly give that up just so their older brother wouldn't feel alone and empty inside?

No, he didn't blame Sam for leaving all those years ago; he blamed himself for not leaving with him.

* * *

**Author's Note: The frist chapter of the many to come. I decided to make Castiel's feelings of love and protectiveness for Anna similar to Dean's for Sam (though I made Anna as the older sibling instead just to add a new twist), so there's at least something the two have in common. And of course, I couldn't leave the little cutie Gabriel out of this! Also, just to be clear, this fic isn't going to revolve around the case in Wyoming; it's only where it begins...**

**Next chapter is going to be where the Novaks and Winchesters meet and i'll hopefully have it out for you guys soon. And just to make myself clear, this is a _Destiel fanfiction._ Don't like? I'm sorry for wasting your time but next chapter, don't read. Though mostly seventy (if not more) percent of this fandom does ship those two lovebirds together, so I don't think I'll have a problem with that. Anyway, reviews are appreciated if not highly recommended. I don't have a problem with follows/favorites either ;).**


	2. The Bad Omen

**Author's Note: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews/follows/favorites. They mean the world to me and I hope you certainly keep them coming ;). But anyway, onto the next chapter!**

* * *

"Name's Agent Collins," Dean said in his upmost business tone to the town's police chief that had been ordering his deputies to canvas the recent murder scene, "This is my partner, Agent Blackwell. FBI." As he and Sam flashed their fake badges to prove their false statement, the chief, who asked to be referred to as Mr. Stevens, looked at them suspiciously.

"Another pair of you jokers already?" He asked with a cocked graying eyebrow, "I just got done explainin' this to another two of you suits just a half hour ago."

Both Winchester brothers' brows furrowed as Sam repeated questionably, "Another two?"

"Agents Reynolds and Wilkinson," The Chief answered with a glint of confusion in his whisky brown eyes, probably wondering why they were acting as if this was news to them, "You agents not keep up with each other in the Bureau?"

"Oh, you mean those two goofballs," Dean said with fake realization as he smiled cheerfully at him, "Yea, Singer told us about them. Just rookies really; their first real case alone in the field. We've just been sent here to make sure they're not screwing anything up yet. You know, fact checking and such."

Chief Stevens stared at the two for a moment, appearing not totally convinced at Dean's floundering lie on the spot, but eventually began to nod slowly as he turned his gaze over to the yellow taped area with a brutally slaughtered dead body on the floor laying in a pool of blood, "Like I told the other two, Elliot Taylor was found by his teenage daughter at exactly 8:45am this morning…" As the police chief briefed them, Dean tried to listen to what he was saying but found himself wondering in the back of his mind how such a dull string of murders could attract the attention of the real Feds. _Hopefully they won't get in our way too much, _Dean thought with a grimace as he and Sam ducked under the police tape to further inspect the body.

* * *

During the following four days of pursuing the case, Dean and Sam heard often about the other two Federal Agents but luckily never seemed to come across them; they were always either an hour behind them or had already left just minutes before they arrived. The small Wyoming town had finally begun to talk about all the Feds running around asking them the same exact questions over and over again, but the brothers ignored the local gossip and attempted to just focus on the task at hand.

Upon deeper inspection of the previous murders and research of the town's history, they had both eventually concluded that they were dealing with a Shapeshifter, and a real twisted one at that. Now Dean's not saying that the damned species was a bunch of holy saints or anything like that, but pretending to be the victim's dead loved one to gain their trust only to guilt them into thinking that they caused their death and kill them brutally for "revenge" is pretty damn dark; even for a shifter.

But finally, after hours of endless work and dozens of awkward interviews, they had finally managed to track the thing down to where his hiding place was.

"Ready?" Sam asked as he handed his brother a gun loaded with pure silver bullets and grabbed himself a long silver dagger.

Dean Winchester nodded as he took one last glance at the looming full moon above them before lowering his gaze and stepping into the Impala, "Let's gank this stupid son of a bitch."

Sam smiled before he climbed into the passenger seat and stared out the window as Dean started up the car and drove down the empty road, moving closer to the Shapeshifter with each passing mile.

* * *

"Cassie, you look beautiful," Gabriel said exasperatedly with a roll of his eyes, "Stop messing with hair already and let's get a move on."

Castiel looked up from his mirrored image in the blacked out television screen to glare at his brother, "I don't regret to point out that I just spent the past twenty minutes waiting on you to finally pick out the most suitable attire to wear just to kill a simple Shapeshifter."

"Sorry if I wanted to be a little bit more incognito, Little Brother," Gabriel told him before dragging his eyes up and down Castiel and remarking, "Unlike you. Seriously, Cassie, update your wardrobe every once in awhile. You look like a holy tax account from the eighteen hundreds."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Castiel asked honestly with a puzzled brow as he gazed down at his attire, seeing nothing wrong with his regular ruffled suit and dirty tan trench coat.

Gabe scoffed, "Oh please, what's _not _wrong with that fashion disaster? I mean, really, you make Hugh Hefner look stylish!"

Cas sighed as his hands subconsciously moved to tighten his loose blue tie, "I believe you've been watching that horrid show, '_What Not to Wear_' a little too much lately."

"Hey, don't you dare go dissing my programs, Cassandra," Gabriel scolded, raising a warning finger at him, "I mean, I never complain about all those stupid bee documentaries and sickening foreign films you force me to watch." He then clutched his stomach and pretended to gag, "It gets me nauseous just thinking about it."

Castiel rolled his eyes, "Two words: Dr. Sexy."

At Castiel's words, Gabriel finally put an end to his fabulous performance to glare venomously at his brother before saying sourly, "Two words: Fuck. Off."

Castiel sighed tiredly but couldn't wipe the small content smile off his face as he shifted through their weapons bag to pull out all the silver armory they had stored to prepare for their final confrontation with the Shapeshifter that's been alluding their grasp for the last few days.

"Ready to kill some shifty ass, Bro?" Gabriel asked with a cocked eyebrow, earning a firm nod from Cas in response.

"Just let me check on Anna before we leave," Castiel said as he handed the rest of their supplies to Gabe, "You go on ahead and get the car started; I won't be long."

"You got it, Casanova," Gabriel said as he left the motel room and started toward the parking lot, "Make sure to give Annie a big sloppy kiss for me!"

Castiel rolled his eyes as he exited the motel room and headed straight to the room directly beside them (this place didn't have conjoined motel rooms so they were forced to let Anna have her own separate room). He didn't bother knocking as he just opened the door and stepped tentatively inside, "Anna?"

The faulty lights were so dim and constantly flickering, he didn't see her until he stepped further into the room. Anna was hunched over a rickety wooden table scribbling something fiercely in her sketchpad Cas had given her years ago for her birthday (that was back when she was the "normal Anna" and her unhealthy need to have the pad always within reach was one of the only things that remained the same even after the accident).

"Anna." Castiel said again and this time it seemed he had finally gotten her attention as she flickered her blue eyed gaze over to him.

When she saw him, she looked on the verge of breaking out into a crooked grin but stopped abruptly when she caught sight of the gleaming metal knife in his hand, "What are you doing with that, Cas?"

Despite her obvious disdain for the weapon in his possession, Castiel just smiled as he moved across the room and sat down in the wooden chair beside her, "Gabe and I are finally going to finish this case so we can get out of here. And after this, I even convinced him to let us blow off hunting for a few days to visit that famous art museum you used to talk on and on about—"

"Cas, you're not going on that hunt," Anna cut him off in a deadly stern voice as her blue eyes instantly hardened, reacting quite the opposite of what Castiel had expected (or more like hoped) her to, "Even if I have to chain you and Gabriel to a metal post and finish the job myself, you two are not going."

"Anna," Castiel said gently, trying hard to keep the exasperation out of his voice as he laid his hand over hers, "You know we've dealt with plenty worse than a silly shifter looking for attention. Remember that vampire nest we raided in Chicago when we were in high school? There was at least fifty of them in there and we came out just fine," He paused before feeling compelled to add, "I mean, we all received a few cracked ribs and some internal bleeding and Gabriel did have to walk with a limp for six months after that, but other than that, we were alright."

"Yes, but that was when 'we' consisted of more than just you and Gabe," Anna reminded him in a hard tone, "There was five of us back then."

"Anna, this is just a juvenile Shapeshifter that doesn't fully comprehend the harsh repercussions of his homicidal actions," Castiel pointed out with a sigh, disappointed that his bribery of promising her they would visit her favorite art museum wasn't enough to sway her stance against them finishing this case, "This will only take maybe two or three hours at the most."

"You know it's not the shifter I'm worried about, Castiel," Anna said sharply as her previously loose grip on his hand tightened, "I told you, there's something else here in this town." Her eyes drifted to the ceiling as she quieted her tone, as if afraid someone was listening in on their conversation, "The angels said—"

"Anna, it doesn't matter what the angels said, alright?" Castiel found himself snapping harsher than he had intended, foolishly letting his tired frustration get the best of him, before he finally composed himself once again and softened his tone, "Look, we're going to fine, Annie." He squeezed her hand reassuringly, "We always are."

"You're too much of an optimist," Anna observed softly with a wry smile as she switched her gaze back to him, "One of the worst traits to have in a business like this."

"At least I'll always have a back-up career as a motivational speaker if this whole hunting monsters dream doesn't pan out." Castiel said with a shrug, hoping to lighten the mood. It work only slightly but as Cas opened his mouth to try again, he heard the familiar blare of Gabriel's horn, reminding him that they were in somewhat of a hurry.

"I have to go now," Castiel said sadly as he released her hand and stood up, "Gabriel's waiting for me." He moved to leave but Anna grabbed his hand back and held him firmly in place (she was always a lot stronger than you would think a girl that weighed just about a hundred pounds soaking wet could be), her sharp uncut nails sinking into his soft skin.

"Cas, don't go," She begged into a pleading voice as their eyes met, "Please, you're going to die. They said you're going to die. Just like Michael did…" Anna broke off at the mentioning of their older brother and had to pause for a moment before she was able to continue again, her voice even softer and more desperate this time around, "Please, forget about the shifter; just stay with me where it's safe. You know they can't hurt you here." With each word there was yet another slice through his already bleeding heart but Castiel knew he had to be firm; there really was no actual danger to them at all. It was only in Anna's head; it always had been.

"I'm leaving, Anael." Castiel forced the words out of his mouth as he detached himself from Anna's claws and moved to the exit. He opened the door to walk out but paused before looking over his shoulder at her and saying in a sober tone, "Promise me you won't leave this room until I get back."

Anna stared at him with defiant look on her face as she huffed, "You can't possibly expect me to just sit here—"

"Anna, promise me." He repeated more sternly than the first time as his gaze on her only intensified.

She locked her jaw and matched his stare, "Cas—"

"Promise. Me."

Anna was only able to hold her ground for just a minute more (no one could ever win a staring match against the forever unblinking Castiel) before she eventually broke eye-contact and said quietly, "Just be careful for once, alright? Come back here immediately after you kill it and don't—"

"I know, I know," Castiel said with a roll of his eyes, silently relieved over his surprising win, "Don't let Gabriel set himself on fire in celebration like last time." He turned back around and was only able to stick one foot out the door before he heard Anna's sudden voice behind him.

"Hey, Cas?"

He stopped but didn't turn around, "Yes, Anna?"

"Angel of God,

My guardian dear,

To whom God's love commits me here,

Ever this day,

Be at my side

To light and guard,

To rule and guide," He heard her recite easily as if it were permanently etched into her brain and paused for a moment before she added softy with a dry chuckle, "Remember when you used to make me recite that stupid thing to you every night before you'd finally let me go to bed?"

The blunt off-topic question caught Castiel completely off guard and it took him a moment before he was able to reply, "Yes, what about it?"

There was a pause before he heard her ask almost inaudibly, "Whatever happen to that innocent little boy, Cas?"

"He grew up, Anna," Castiel answered grimly as he walked out of the room and shut the door soundly behind him before he added in a whisper, "I wish you would, too."

He tried to ignore Anna's warning of death but it still lingered deep in the back of his mind as he strolled through the motel's parking lot towards Gabriel's ugly mustard colored 1974 Pontiac GTO. As he opened the passenger car door and stepped inside (causing loud creaking noise to erupt from the automobile), Gabriel's gaze shifted from the porno magazine in his hands to his brother, noticing Castiel's grim facial expression and arching an eyebrow, "Annie doing okay?"

"Depends on your definition of 'okay.'" Castiel sighed out, eyes fixated out the car window as he ignored his older brother's questioning stare. He didn't want to talk about Anna nor their foreseen death tonight; he just wanted to hurry up and get this hunt over with so they can finally leave this eerie town.

Gabriel seemed to get the hint as he just shrugged and discarded his magazine into the backseat before starting up the car. It took a few tries to get the engine going and as the car finally revved to life, the obnoxious intro to the song _Heat of the Moment _came blaring out the stereo, causing Cas to groan.

Gabriel arched an eyebrow at Cas' negative response, "What? I thought you liked Asia."

Castiel sighed, "No, I _tolerated _it; there's a difference. And besides, that was before the tape got stuck in the stereo and we're forced to listen to this horrid song on an infinite loop every time you turn on the radio."

"Oh come on, Cassie," Gabriel said with an over-exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows as he looped an arm around Castiel's shoulder while using his other hand to operate the steering wheel as they drove down the highway, "Don't pretend you don't love it." To further Castiel's torture, Gabriel cranked up the volume and began belting out the lyrics loudly in his ear, very subtly attempting to ease the obvious tension in Castiel's shoulders.

Cas rolled his eyes but didn't protest (he could tell his older brother was only trying to help…in his own way, of course) as he just leaned back further into the seat and closed his eyes. But just as his eye fluttered shut, all external surrounding sounds dissipated around him, leaving only pure silence in its place. Before Castiel could panic about the sudden muteness, there was a voice—a hauntingly beautiful voice that sounded as a bolt of lightning thundering in his ears—that rang throughout his mind and brought a surge of unexplainable righteousness yet undeniable terror coursing through his veins:

"_Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."_

Though he was unable to hear himself, Cas must have let out a loud gasping breath of absolute horror that caused Gabriel's grip on his shoulder to tighten and shake Cas slightly when he didn't respond, dragging the blue eyed boy back to the safety of reality as Gabe's panicked voice demanded, "Dude, what the fuck just happened to you?"

Castiel wasn't able to answer him for a few moments—he was still in a hazy daze with his ears ringing and his now hoarse throat preventing him from making any sounds—before he finally grounded out, "Nothing. Just a nightmare, that's all." _Not a nightmare, _Castiel mentally corrected himself as he suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to demand Gabriel to just turn the car around now while they still had the chance, _an omen. And a bad one at that._

Castiel told himself over and over again that he nor Gabriel were going to die tonight—that it couldn't possibly happen with Gabriel's unmatchable speed and strength, and Castiel's own quick-wit and blinding fast reflexes; that the rookie Shapeshifter had no chance of defeating two expertly trained hunters that knew how to take down a grown man in one fluid motion and hit bull's eye with a shotgun twenty yards away before they even knew how to count to a hundred. But somehow he still found himself reciting the prayer quietly inside his head:

_Angel of God,_

_My guardian dear,_

_To whom God's love commits me here,_

_Ever this day,_

_Be at my side_

_To light and guard,_

_To rule and guide._

* * *

It's only been ten minutes since Anna Novak saw her brothers disappear out of sight down the road in that horrible piece of junk Gabriel stubbornly referred to as a car, and she already felt the bone-chilling knowledge that the angels were planning to kill them tonight almost too much to bear.

But she made a promise—to Cas, of all people (she was perfectly capable of lying to everyone else and breaking her other promises, but never to Castiel; the poor kid had had enough lies told to him by the people he loved to last him a whole lifetime)—and she was determined to keep it.

"Cas is right, Anna," She assured herself as she gazed down at the sketchpad in front of her and tried desperately to block out the angels' constant whimsical yet agonizing voices that invaded her eardrums, "They're going to be fi—" As she was about to finish the last word of her sentence, images of Castiel and Gabriel being banded by their wrists and ankles as men with huge shadows of invisible wings surrounded them and sliced open their abdomens with a sleek ancient looking knife, causing blinding white light to pour out of their newly made wounds as they each let out gut-wrenching screams, came flooding through her mind.

Anna let out a horrified shriek as she fell out of her chair and crashed to the hard wooden floor with a heavy thud. Her head was now buzzing with the loud wails of anticipation from the angels at the aspect of torturing her brothers and before she could even stop and give her rash decision a second thought, Anna was already pulling on one of Gabriel's worn out coats and lacing up her old hunting boots.

"I'm sorry, Cas." She whispered as she pushed open the door and vanished into the night.

* * *

Castiel could barely hear anything over the loud pounding of his heartbeat as he clutched the silver dagger tightly in his fist and looked around anxiously for the shifter. He didn't know where Gabriel was anymore but that thought didn't bother him since his brother always seemed to slip away often during intense fights like this.

He swept his gaze around the lot of abandoned alleyways and was glad that this part of town was empty of any human residence. Castiel was about to relieve himself of his tense fighting stance and begin searching for his brother when a dark figure caught his eye. Cas instantly melted into the shadows (something that he apparently did "a little too well" as Gabriel had once told him) and strained to see if it was the shifter that had caused Castiel to be drenched in wet sweat and dried blood (some of which wasn't exactly one hundred percent his). But he discovered that it wasn't as soon as the figure stepped into the light of a strong moonbeam. It was just a man—a man that looked only a couple years older than Castiel himself with short cropped up dirty blonde hair and piercing green eyes that flashed under the bright moonlight.

"Sammy?" The man called out in a low, gravelly voice, sending a wave of confusion through Cas' body. What was a local doing out here alone anyway? Doesn't he know that he shouldn't be out here in the middle of the night with a mass murderer out prowling the streets?

Edging curiosity washed over him and Castiel contemplated the idea of revealing himself and warning the man to just go home, but before he was able to do so, the man seemed to see something that sent him bolting after it, leaving Castiel to decide whether to follow him or continue to look for his brother. _Gabriel can look after himself, _Cas determined as he raced silently after the man, _this civilian cannot. _

Or so he had thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a different lonely street only a mile away, Sam Winchester was being pinned down by a grinning psychotic Shapeshifter that was about to rip him in two like his previous mangled victims. Sam's silver knife was just inches out of his grasp and the shifter was taking full advantage of his vulnerability, taunting him about how weak he was and asking where his heroic brother was now.

But just as Sam was about to choke out the first syllable of the name "Dean," there was a loud _BANG_ of a gun going off before the shifter went sailing down right on top of him. The youngest Winchester brother laid there in shock for a moment before finally regaining his senses as he sighed with relief and pushed the dead body off of him.

"Thanks, D—" Sam began but stopped abruptly when he saw who his savior was…and it wasn't his brother like he had originally thought.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," A smirking short man with honeycomb blonde hair and fiery amber eyes began as he twirled the smoking pistol in his hand, "But I'm pretty sure this is the part in the story where you leap into my arms and reward me for saving you from that fickle beast with a long, passionate kiss."

Sam stared at him blankly for a few more seconds, waiting as the strange man's words finally processed in his mind before his demanding voice sliced through the long pause of silence, "What?"

* * *

Once Castiel had finally caught up to the man (he was faster than any normal citizen Cas had ever seen, he'll give him that) and made sure his elusive presence was still unknown, he noticed that the stranger had finally caught whatever he was chasing after and had successfully cornered it in a narrow dark alleyway. Cas was puzzled at first and, making sure to blend further into the shadowy surroundings so the man would continue to be unaware of him, silently moved closer to get a better view. He was still a good yard or two away from the stranger before Castiel finally caught sight of the creature that was cowering against the molding cement wall and almost made his heart to literally cease beating.

It was Anna pressed up against the wall with the expression of absolute terror reflecting on her face but it wasn't until Castiel saw the shiny gun in the man's hands that was aimed directly at Anna's heart did he fully understand the cause of it.

Before even giving himself time to second-guess his instinctive decision, Castiel flung himself out of the darkness and sailed his knife straight at the green eyed man's throat.

* * *

**Author's Note: The Guardian Angel prayer Anna and Castiel referred to is most certainly not mine and was from the Catholic church (i'm pretty sure, that is. If I'm wrong on the origin {which is quite possible}, I deeply apologize)****. I also quoted the saint verse that was the "bad omen" Castiel had described from the bible. **

** But anyway...I would love to hear what you thought of this chapter so any feedback is extremely welcomed (though seriously, what author on here has _ever_ discouraged you from leaving a review?). I'm also a little on the fence about adding some eventual Sabriel in this story (there is a slight age difference since Sam is 22 and Gabe is 28, but if you do the take-half-of-the-number-and-add-seven rule, it passes the test), so tell me if you want to see that pairing grace upon this fanfic or not. But anyway, next update will occur hopefully soon!**


	3. The Ghastly First Impression

**Author's Note: Yes, I'm so glad this many of you have enjoyed this fic so far! And to further your joy of this being updated, I have decided to add Sabriel into this! But fair warning though, this is the first time ever that I've attempted to write this ship (read their fanfics all the time, but never tried it until now), so hopefully I won't screw it up. Anyway, read on to see if Castiel kills Dean!**

* * *

The next few seconds went by so fast that Dean didn't even have enough time to process what was actually happening and acted on purely instinct. The moment he saw a flash of gleaming knife out of the corner of his eye, Dean jerked away as swiftly as he could and dodged the sharp blade, though he didn't act quickly enough before his attacker's body slammed into him, knocking Dean roughly against the surrounding cement wall as his gun slipped out of his grasp and clattered to the beaten pavement. For a split second, Dean braced himself for the next punch…but the predicted second blow never came.

Not wasting any more valuable moments that could potentially save his life, Dean jumped to his feet and scooped his gun up from the ground before he aimed it straight where the pretty red-haired Shapeshifter was…only to find that she wasn't alone.

There was a boy, who appeared to be only a few years younger than Dean with dark mussed up hair and deep blue eyes that glistened occasionally when the moonlight would hit him at just the right angle, that had his back pressed up against the wall and was crouched down in a defensive stance, looking ready to strike if ever given the opportunity. One of his hands held the same deadly knife that was once sailing towards Dean's neck while the other arm was thrown protectively in front of the redheaded girl, who was shaking like a leaf and clutching onto the boy's baggy coat sleeve like she was afraid it would slip through her fingers. _A knife, _Dean repeated to himself as he eyed the weapon in puzzlement, _why would a Shifter have a knife?_

"If you wish to attempt to kill me, then be my guest," Despite having the gun pointed directly at him now, the boy possessed a calm, collected voice as he kept his steady challenging gaze trained solely on Dean, "But leave the girl out of it. She has nothing to do with—"

"No!" The girl screamed in protest, her chattering teeth clenching shut as she glanced away from the boy to look at Dean with a wide eyed, tearful gaze, "D-Don't kill h-him. P-Please, he's m-my brother," A sob was welling up in the back of her throat as she continued hoarsely, "My l-little b-brother—"

"Anna, hush." The boy commanded in a hard tone, not even taking his eyes off of Dean to glance at her, "You shouldn't even be here—"

"Look, this is real touching and all," Dean said with a false bright smile as he steadied his aim straight at the boy's cold heart, "But I've had enough of your shifty bastards for one night." Utter confusion reflected in the boy's eyes and he opened his mouth to say something, but Dean's finger that was applying pressure on the trigger silenced him.

Just as the gun was about to sound off, the boy flung himself at Dean and messed up his aim, making him shoot blindly in a random direction. There was a loud bang of the gun and the girl's heart-wrenching scream ringing out through the quiet night.

* * *

"Name's Sir Gabriel, My Lady," Gabe said in a proper tone with a wicked grin as he offered his hand to the awestricken brown-haired boy, "Now tell me: Are you Sleeping Beauty or Snow White?" He paused as he noticed that tragic shaggy mess the boy called a haircut and added, "Actually, Rapunzel looks more like it."

The baby-moose man shot him a venomous glare as he said icily, "It's Sam."

Gabriel's smile widened as he let his hand fall back to his side (seeing that the boy wasn't going to shake it anyway), "Ah, the beautiful princess Samantha getting rescued by the noble knight Gabriel Novak. I see marriage in our future, Sweetheart." He took another long look at the man, finally noticing how attractive he was, before he mused gleefully, "Oh, just think of the beautiful babies we could make!"

Sam stopped glaring at him to give him a puzzled look before saying slowly, "Um…I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, but I don't think human biology works that way."

"Pity," Gabriel said in mock pout, giving the handsome boy one more look over before reluctantly dragging his eyes back to Sam's adorable face, "I was looking forward to the practice."

The young man sputtered for a moment, his face heating up in humiliation (which Gabriel didn't understand because hey, it was a compliment), before he finally stuttered out, "I-I'm not…I d-don't—"

"Don't knock it 'til you try it, Sammy," Gabriel said with a playful wink, grinning wildly at the thought of changing such a nice heterosexual male over to the dark side, "And trust me, you'd have a lot of fun knocking me on a table a few times." Sammy, however, didn't look as amused and opened his mouth to retort when a strange look overcame his face, as if a sudden realization dawned on him.

"Dean," Sam breathed out as his grip on his knife tightened before he began walking away, "I gotta find him before—"

"Dean?" Gabriel repeated sourly, quickly trotting after the man, "But what about us, Sam-I-Am? I thought what we had was _special!_"

"He's my brother," Sam told him irritably, looking annoyed and quickening his pace once he realized Gabriel was following him, "And there is no 'us.' I mean, I know you saved my life and all, but—"

"Oh Sammy, who knew you'd be such a heartbreaker," Gabriel cut him off in a teasing tone, his eyes travelling downward to rest on Sam's firm backside, "You bring all the boys to the yard with that milkshake of yours?"

"Can you just stop and leave me alo—" Sam's angry response was cut off by the distant sound of a gun going off that was soon followed by a girl's ear-piercing scream. _Wait a minute, _Gabriel thought suddenly and stopped dead in his tracks as the slow realization sunk in, _I know that scream…_

For a brief moment, Gabriel literally forgot how to breathe; all simple information like his own name, family, duty, and even his damn _mission _in life that he had memorized to a "T" was suddenly nonexistent in his mind as Gabe said in a soft, hollow voice, "Annie?"

Not even waiting for an answer he knew wasn't coming, Gabriel darted towards the direction of the scream, not even caring that Sam was following behind him because dammit, Gabe's failed too many times to protect the ones he loved; he wasn't about to let it happen again.

Not after Anna's sudden insanity, not after Mikey's tragic death, not after Castiel's brutal loss of innocence when he was forced to take the role as head of the family when Gabriel was too scared and ran away from the one responsibility he knew was his to take.

_It's my fault, _Gabriel thought as he pushed his legs to go faster and faster, _whatever happens to Anna, it's going to be my fault._

* * *

When Castiel heard his sister's scream, all feeling drained out of him as he shoved the green eyed man away and turned to see what had happened to her.

"Anna?" His voice came out in a panicked whisper as he rushed to her side, "Anna, did it hit you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cas," Anna said weakly but Castiel gave her another look over just to check and luckily didn't seen any sight of an injury on her at all, "It didn't hit me. Are you..." She trailed off as she took his hands into hers and gave them a squeeze, gazing at him with a fierce protective glint in her eyes that Castiel hadn't seen in her since they were kids, "Are you alright?"

"You guys aren't Shapeshifters, are you?" The green eyed man's sudden voice pulled Cas back to reality as he detached himself from Anna to turn around and glare murderously at the man that tried to take his sister's life.

"What gave it away, huh?" Castiel's voice was venomous and scornful, his hands trembling over his eruption of utter fury, " Maybe the begging, or was it the pleading? Oh I know, maybe it was the look of absolute fear in an innocent girl's eyes!"

"Well, sorry," The green eyed man said but he was matching Castiel's hostile tone, proving he was anything but what he claimed to be, "I made a mistake. You aren't dead now, are you?"

"Oh yes, I do suppose I owe you a thank you for not murdering me and my sister in cold blood." Castiel snapped, a scowl etching into his usually emotionless face.

The man sighed, his eyes flickering to the ground and his hand went to rub the back of his neck as he mumbled, "Okay, so maybe my actions were a_ little_ reckless—"

"It was completely reckless!" Castiel shouted, running an angry hand through his black hair, "Seriously, you shouldn't even be allowed to own a firearm with your negligence and motto 'shoot first, consider the consequences of your actions later.'"

"Okay, you need to calm the fuck down," The man said as he stumbled to his feet and stepped towards him, giving Castiel a better view of him, "I apologized, alright? What more do you want from me?"

Cas wanted to go on another rant about careless hunters like him always wanting to kill anything that walks, but he found himself strangely tongue-tied as he noticed the breathtaking beauty of the man. Even under the grime and layers of blood, Cas could make out the chiseled facial structure of the male that molded fluently with his plump pink lips and the wonderful blend of different green hues that made up his glistening irises. His matted hair was either a very dark blonde or an extremely light brown but the amount of mud and dried blood in it prevented Cas from telling which it was. Even looking like he had gotten run over by a bus repeatedly and drowned in a mud puddle, he still looked fairly attractive.

Suddenly, Castiel's mouth went as dry as the Sahara Desert and he completely forgot what he was even supposed to be mad about.

"Hey, Kid," The man's questioning voice caused Castiel's muscles to clench even tighter, "You okay?"

"I uh...I..." Castiel floundered hopelessly as he forced his gaze to go anywhere but the man's lips, " I...w-what?" Dammit, why couldn't the man have enough decency to keep his gorgeousness hidden so Castiel could have a proper rant and not feel like a blushing thirteen year old girl?

The man stared at him curiously for a moment, probably wondering what had made Castiel's anger dissolve so quickly into sheer awkwardness, before he stuck out his large calloused hand, "Name's Dean. Dean W—"

"Dean Winchester." Anna's sudden awed voice behind him startled Castiel and it took him a moment for her words to process. But when it did, his blood turned ice cold and he suddenly felt the strong urge to vomit.

_Winchester._

The male, Dean Winchester, looked at her oddly before letting out a slow chuckle as he turned his attention back to Cas, "Wow, most hunters just know me as 'John's Boy.' Good to see my name's finally getting out there."

"Dean," Anna said with a mixture of hope in her tone as she stood up on wobbly legs and advanced towards him, "Dean, the angels. C-Can you hear them too? P-Please, please say yes. Prove to my brother that I'm not crazy." By the bewildered and slightly frightened expression Dean gave Anna in response, Castiel took it as a 'no.'

"Anna," Castiel sighed out as he reached his hand out to steady her, "I don't think you're—"

"Don't." Anna gritted out sharply as she evaded Castiel's grasp, glaring hard at her brother with terrifying red rimmed eyes, "Just don't. Treat me like a mindless child, a psychotic mental case, or whatever, but _don't_ lie to me, Cas. You could _at least_ do that for me." Castiel felt a hot pool of guilt and shame simmer in his stomach at the truthfulness of her words, yet he still couldn't help but notice her fidgeting stance and unstable demeanor—early signs that she's about to become stuck in one of her bad stupors like earlier last week during their previous case.

The mentioning of that day sent vivid flashbacks flooding to Castiel's mind and he remembered the way Anna had acted strangely—or, stranger than usually, more like—when she had mentioned the Winchesters...

Dean Winchester.

Just thinking of the name made shivers of fear shoot down Castiel's spine but he managed to keep his shudder unnoticed as he mumbled a soft apology to Anna and turned his attention back to the Winchester—someone he knew for a fact that Anna had never known before but somehow his name had been branded into her mind. But how? And more importantly: why?

"I suppose I haven't properly introduced myself," Castiel said in a formal tone as he offered a slender hand, "My name is Castiel Novak, and this is my sister, Anna. We're the ones you attempted to murder, remember?"

"Man, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that—" Dean's smart retort was abruptly cut off by a dark figure swiftly coming up from behind him and slamming Dean against the hard cement wall.

Instantly, Castiel's dagger raised in the air ready to strike when a stray beam of light revealed who Dean's attacker was.

"Gabriel?" Castiel said slowly, his tense grip on his knife loosening as he stared at his older brother in confusion, "Where did you come from?"

"Seriously, Cassie, do I need to explain where babies come from _again_?" Gabriel's offhanded humorous reply didn't lighten the tension of their situation as Gabriel's gun pointed right at the back of Dean's head, "Now, tell me, Baby Brother, how bad should I mangle this poor ole bastard? Just a little flesh wound or something much more..." Even in the dark, Castiel could still see his brother's eyebrows waggle as he finished gleefully, "...creative?"

"Is this how your family always introduces themselves?" Dean's muffled comment went unheard by both Novak brothers as Castiel just put his weapon away and sighed.

"Neither, if that's an option," Cas answered his brother as he stuffed his hands in his coat pockets, "Now put the gun down. This man has not given us any reason to request his death warrant."

"I heard Annie scream, Castiel," Suddenly, Gabe's tone was icy as his amber eyes hardened, "Isn't that enough?"

"Gabriel." Castiel said in a warning tone that finally made Gabriel sigh and reluctantly stick the gun back in his pocket, taking a step away from the Winchester and glaring at Cas as he did so.

"Are you alright?" Castiel asked as he watched the beautiful man remove himself from the wall and dust his clothes off.

Dean took one more venomous glare at Gabriel before he settled his gaze back on Cas, his frown lifting into a small smirk as he said with a shrug, "It isn't the first time tonight a sociopath has slammed into me."

"Cassie, who's this?" Gabriel asked (or more like demanded regarding his firm tone) as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave Dean an icy stare.

Dean sighed, "My name is—"

"Hey, Blondie, I wasn't talkin' to you." Gabriel cut him off abruptly in a sharp tone, causing Dean's jaw to lock in annoyance.

"His name is Dean," Anna's voice seemed to shock everyone as they all tensed immediately and jerked their heads into the direction of Castiel's sister, who kept her eyes trained solely on Dean as a corner of her lips curled into a small smile, "And he's going to save the world."

* * *

Dean stared at the girl with wide eyes, completely at a loss for all words at her sudden declaration (he was going to save his dad, dammit; the world is the LEAST of his worries right now), before he blurted out, "Sorry to get your hopes up, Sweetheart, but that task isn't really on my to-do list at the moment."

"You have no idea, do you?" The girl whose name was apparently Anna said with a wry grin as her watery eyes glistened in the fading moonlight, "You can't hear them; not like I can."

Dean's brow furrowed as he asked slowly, "Um...what am I supposed to be hearing again?"

"Angels, Dean," Anna told him exasperatedly with an eye roll, as if _he _was the crazy one (when in reality, he was pretty sure he was the only one around there that had an ounce of sanity inside his brain), and her bitter smile resurfaced when she saw Dean's confused expression as she let out a light chuckle and shrug, "Funny. They seem to talk about you quite often recently." She paused before she took a single step towards him, her head tilting ever so slightly that Dean would consider kind of cute if he didn't know how fucking creepy this chick was, and she said softly, "Do you know about your destiny, Dean Winchester?"

"Destiny is a load of crap." Dean told her firmly, relieved that she actually asked a question that he could understand.

"There's always a plan—" Anna began but was cut off by a male's voice.

"Anna, that's enough." Dean turned his head to see it was the boy—Castiel, he had said (what kind of sick parents name their poor kid that anyway?)—and he was regarding the redheaded girl with a stare that appeared more tired than terrified, as if he was used to Anna saying insane shit like this.

"Right, I forgot," Anna said quietly as a frown found its way on her beautiful ivory face, "I'm just the crazy girl that doesn't know anything."

Gabriel let out a sigh, "Annie, that's not what he said—"

"Dean?" Sam's sudden voice made everyone's gaze snap to the opening of the alleyway that revealed Dean's younger brother staring at the group with utter confusion written plain on his face.

"Who's that?" Castiel asked curiously as Sammy slowly moved closer to them.

"My brother." Dean answered the same time Gabriel replied, "My future husband."

"Excuse me?" Dean demanded as he set his confused yet still pissed gaze on Gabriel.

"Dean, I'm not his future husband." Sam assured him with an eye roll.

"Hell yea, you are," Gabriel declared firmly as he moved towards Dean's younger brother and threw an arm over Sam's shoulder (which looked incredibly ridiculous considering Gabriel's extreme lack of height and the youngest Winchester's lanky frame), "Fairytale regulations, My Dear Samantha. It clearly states that if a fair maiden is rescued by a brave knight, then that automatically makes her his bitch."

"You're kidding, right?" Dean said to Sam with narrowed eyes as he pointed at Gabriel, "You had to get saved by _this guy?_"

"Yes, it was love at first gunshot wound." Gabriel sighed happily with a dopey smile.

"Get away from me." Sam hissed as he slipped out of Gabriel's clingy grasp to stand safely beside his older brother.

"You're a hunter as well, correct?" Castiel questioned Sam curiously with a cocked head.

"Yea," Sam replied with a nod as he offered him his hand, "I'm Sam."

"It's nice to meet you," Castiel said and hell, it even sounded like the poor sap actually meant it, as he continued, "Hopefully, my older brother hasn't made you too uncomfortable with his..._affections_."

"Not too bad." Sam told him with a polite smile, though Dean knew he was lying.

"So," Gabriel began cheerfully as he moved closer to Castiel and threw his arm around him (sometimes, Gabriel insisted to mimic a sloth as he always needed _someone_ to hang all over, and unfortunately, that someone always happened to be Castiel), "Me and Sammy already took care of the Shifter." His grin widened as his amber eyes started to sparkle, "You know what that means, Fellas?"

There was a brief pause of silence before Sam was forced to take the bait and ask, "What?"

"Celebration time!" Gabriel mused with a cheery grin as if he hadn't just ended a life twenty minutes ago, "We'll see you gentlemen at the local bar on the other side of town in fifteen minutes." And with that, the two Novak brothers turned around and began walking out of the alleyway, but not before they stopped briefly when they reached Anna. Castiel offered up a wilted smile and said something lowly to her that made the crazy girl nod numbly as she let Castiel gently take her wrist and lead her out of sight.

"Okay," Sam began slowly once he was sure the Novaks were out of earshot as he turned to his brother with a furrowed brow, "What just happened?"

Dean stayed silent for a moment, trying to calculate the recent throng of events that occurred rapidly before his eyes, until finally he answered, "No idea."

Sam nodded, "So…are we gonna go?"

"Dude, since when have I ever turned down an invitation to drink?" Dean asked with an arched eyebrow as he began walking out of the alleyway and towards his car.

"Dean…sometimes you need to turn down a lot of things." Sam mumbled and with one final eye roll, followed after his brother.

Neither of them nor the Novaks knew how this meeting could potentially either save the world, or help it go down in flames.

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh, such romantic first meetings! Next chapter is the bar scene and then something...disturbing happens that you might want to tune in and find out for yourself (there we go; just a little incentive to urge you to click that pretty little follow/favorite button ;)). Anyway, please leave a review to tell me what you think (and who knows? Maybe it will quicken the speed of my updating for this...okay, I need to stop playing dirty). But seriously, you should review and tell me if I'm writing this Sabriel right 'cause I'm not so sure.**

**Until next chapter!**


	4. The Deathly Message

**Author's Note: Thanks for this inspiring feedback! I'm stoked that you guys like my _intriguing _plot for this so far (honestly, in the beginning, I was scared it was a little _too _off the wall). And yes, I've been free during this week, so I thought I should post another chapter. Anyway, read away so you can hopefully leave that review of this because you love me!**

* * *

"Do you think he's cute?" Gabriel blurted out suddenly, taking his eyes off of the road to look over at Cas in the passenger seat.

It took Castiel, who was too wrapped up in his thoughts as he stared absently out of the car window, a moment to realize Gabriel had spoken before his gaze flickered over to his older brother, "Pardon?"

"Did you think that Winchester back there was cute?" Gabriel asked curiously, watching Castiel's reaction closely out of the corner of his eye as he glanced back at the desolate highway.

Even in the darkened car, Gabriel noticed Castiel—who, he might add, was the most asexual creature ever created as he thought of the concept of sex for fun was ridiculous—flushed a faint pink as the boy stayed silent for a moment before answering stiffly, "My opinion on whether Dean is attractive or not is inconsequential—" He was cut off by the sudden sharp swerve of the car caused by the startled Gabriel.

"What is wrong with you?" Castiel demanded as he quickly looked to the backseat to see if Anna, who was curled up in the cramped space and sleeping soundly like a newborn kitten, was awoken by the abrupt but brief change of direction of the vehicle. Seeing that she looked undisturbed in her slumber, Cas moved his gaze back to Gabriel, who was staring at him with wide, incredulous eyes.

"What?"

"I was talking about Sam!" Gabriel exclaimed once he seemed to get over his shock, "Why the hell would you think I was talking about that—" He stopped immediately as his amber eyes flared up in realization and a knowing grin graced his features, "Oh Cassie, don't tell me our little Virgin Mary has a crush."

"Don't be preposterous," Castiel scoffed as he rolled his eyes, his stomach suddenly nauseated by the uncomfortable knot residing in his abdomen, "Stating that someone is attractive is simply an innocent observation—"

"Aw, so you do think he's hot!" Gabriel laughed out with a shit-eating grin before he began musing in a sing-song voice, "Cassie and Dean-o sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes an adopted foreign baby in a baby carriage—"

"Gabriel, be quiet!" Castiel hissed in a harsh whisper, watching Anna as she began to stir, "She's sleeping."

"We should go on a double date," Gabriel declared firmly, ignoring his brother, "Just think about it, Casanova: You and Dean, and me and Sammy together—"

"You and Sam?" Castiel scoffed briskly, rolling his eyes, "Oh please, the boy can't even stand you, Gabe."

"It's called playing hard to get, Cas," Gabriel informed with an exasperated sigh, "He just likes the chase. And so do I, which proves that we are, in fact, soul mates."

Castiel rolled his eyes as he pointed out, "Really? Because if I saw correctly, Sam seemed pretty quick to get away from you and seek protection from his brother."

"Oh yea?" Gabriel snorted, pulling into their motel's parking lot so they can change into clothes that didn't look like they were just beaten repeatedly by a mud puddle, "I bet you I can get Sam into bed by the end of tonight."

Castiel glanced at the clock and stated, "It's already ten o'clock, Gabe. How can you get a man who obviously despises you to want to have sexual intercourse?"

"Oh don't worry," Gabriel said with a smirk as he parked the car, "I have my ways."

* * *

"Why are we doing this again?" Dean heard Sam demand glumly through the door as the eldest Winchester brother got out of the shower and changed into clean clothes.

"Oh come on, Sammy, don't be such a buzz-kill," Dean said as he rolled his eyes and ran a comb through his damp blonde hair, "You just don't want to go because of your new biggest fan."

He heard a long sigh as Sam replied irritably, "No, Dean, it isn't just that," There was a beat of silence before Sam continued, his voice becoming suddenly so soft that Dean had to strain his ears to hear him, "There's something _off _about them, you know? They don't act like most the hunters we've met."

"Well, that isn't necessarily a bad thing," He replied curtly, silently wondering why he was even defending them because he knew Sam was right, "Most of the hunters we've met are kinda dicks."

"I don't know, it just may be me," Sam sighed out, admitting to defeat, "But I just got this strange feeling when I was around them."

"Maybe that's just around Gabriel," Dean pointed out with a shrug as he stepped out of the bathroom in a clean black shirt and fresh jeans, "You should give the other two a chance."

"You're just saying that because you probably want to get into the redheaded girl's pants." Sam scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"No way, Dude," Dean said quickly, putting on his leather jacket as he grabbed the car keys off of the in-table beside the bed, "Chick's insane. And I don't mean in the hot kind of way either."

"We're going just so you can talk to the lanky guy then?" Sam asked, following his brother as he exited their motel room and headed towards the Impala.

"He's not lanky," Dean said before he could stop himself, "He's just really freaking tall. And besides, you're one to talk, Moose."

"So…we are going because of him." Sam persisted as he piled into the passenger seat, noticing Dean was dodging his question.

"No, Sam," Dean snapped exasperatedly as he closed the car door behind him and started up his baby, "I'm just going to get a damn drink, okay?"

"Fine," He heard Sam mumble over the roar of the Impala's engine, "No need to get so mad about it. I was just wondering."

Dean's eyes soften at the miserable look on his baby brother's face and he felt himself saying gently, "Look, we'll only stay an hour, alright? And if you still want to go, we'll leave and never see those damn Novaks ever again."

Sam sighed as he gave Dean a weak nod and smile, "Okay."

"You won't regret it, Sammy," Dean told him with a grin as he drove down the road towards the bar, "I promise."

Oh, how promises can break just as easy as Sam's fragile bones when he's beaten by a garrison of angels only a few months into the future.

* * *

As the Winchesters sauntered into the bar, Sam's anxious gaze swept around the room and a subconscious sigh of relief escaped his lips as he noticed Gabriel Novak was nowhere in sight. As if observing his alleviation, Dean's grin widened as he clapped Sam on the back, leaning in and saying lowly, "See. They were probably talkin' about another bar anyway."

Sam smiled but there was an ounce of something that oddly felt like disappointment settling deep his stomach as he nodded and agreed quietly, "Yea."

Dean, though, didn't seem to notice as he sent Sam another wicked grin before strolling up to the pretty bartender to ask for a drink and probably her phone number. And since this _was_ Dean Winchester, he'll probably succeed in both requests.

As he watched his charming brother go and talk to one of the many obviously single women in the room, Sam sat down on a bar stool and politely asked for just a simple beer. The bartender smiled at him as she nodded and turned around to comply with his wish. But just as she was about to fill the tall glass of the golden liquid, an annoyingly familiar male voice said behind Sam, "Hey, Sweet-cheeks, cancel that order." Suddenly, there was a foreign tan hand on Sam's shoulder as the voice continued, "We'll have two shots of vodka. Just put it on my tab."

"I don't want vodka," Sam muttered as he watched Gabriel slid into the stool beside him, "Especially if it's from you."

"Oh come on," Gabriel replied with a toothy grin as he took the two shots from the bartender and sent her a wink before switching his attention back to Sam, "What's with the cold shoulder, Samquatch? I thought we were getting along swimmingly before we were sadly interrupted."

"Oh yea," Sam said, recalling the actual terror on Gabriel's face as he heard that female scream, "How is she anyway? The girl, I mean."

Suddenly, Gabriel's face tightened and he remained silent for a second as he downed the shot with one large gulp before answering stiffly, "Anna's fine. She was just a little shaken; thanks to your darling brother, I might add." Sam's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by Gabriel looking around and subtly changing the subject, "Where is Dean-o anyway?"

"Probably getting drunk and flirting with a pretty girl." Sam answered with a shrug as he reluctantly drank the vodka that scorched his throat as it slowly slid down to his hollow stomach.

"So is he strictly into chicks, or does he like all the colors of the rainbow?" Gabriel asked as his eyes locked on Dean, who was leaning against the wall as he chatted up a tipsy college girl.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Why? Are you looking to chase after my brother too?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Sammy," Gabriel scoffed as he signaled the bartender for two more shots, "Dean may be pretty to look at, but he isn't my type. I'm asking for my brother."

Sam's brow furrowed deeply as he looked to him in confusion, "You mean the really tall guy you were with?"

"Yup," Gabriel confirmed as he threw the newly refilled shot back down his throat before continuing, "I think Cassie's smitten with him. And it's my duty as an awesome older brother to make sure he doesn't stay completely celibate forever. Whether it's with a chick, dude, or a freaking donkey."

"That's…kind of you," Sam said slowly, "I think."

"So, is he fruity or not?" Gabriel asked again, causing Sam to shrug.

"I don't know. It's not something we really talk about." He told him, draining the shot glass slowly and feeling his stomach gradually get a warm, fuzzy feeling, "What about your brother?"

"As far as I know, the dude's a monk," Gabriel admitted, looking down at his empty glass, "Never shown any special attention to _anybody_. I tried hooking him up with both genders and even a damn goat once, but he always refused on the grounds that 'it would just be a distraction to his work.'" He snorted, and by the look of his slightly glassy eyes proved to Sam that he had been drinking way before he walked up to Sam, "Little bastard hung out with Mikey for too long, if you ask me."

"Who's Mikey?" Sam asked curiously, causing Gabriel's loose grip on his glass to tighten.

"Doesn't matter," Gabe said with a shrug as he took the offered shot out of the bartender's hands and drank it quickly, a bitter smile forming on his lips as he said plainly, "He's dead anyway." Sam's brow furrowed as Gabe just looked back to Sam and cocked an eyebrow, "What about you, Sammy? Think a quick one-night stand is too much of a distraction?"

"I don't do one-night stands. I'm not like my brother," Sam said simply as he abruptly stood up, "Or my father. Goodbye, Gabriel." He began walking away but something in him snapped, and he couldn't help but turn his head around and say quietly, "I'm sorry to hear about your brother, Gabe. If it means anything, I've had a lot of people close to me die, too." Suddenly, the image of Jess flashed before his eyes and Sam had to shake his head for it to dissolve back into the darkest part of his mind.

"It's okay," Gabriel said with a slight smile, but as he watched Sam leave, the twenty-eight year old waved the bartender over for another shot as he added lowly to himself, "It's my fault he's dead anyway."

* * *

As Castiel sat in a booth with a sleepy Anna sitting across from him (he reluctantly took her with them since the last time they left her alone, she almost got herself killed), his fingers tapped on the table absently as he watched an already tipsy Gabriel try to 'charm' his way into Sam Winchester's bed.

"You can go ahead and yell at me, you know," Anna's flat voice caused Cas' gaze to shift over to his sister, who was staring at him with faintly pink eyes (though he didn't know if they were from exhaustion or crying as she pleaded for her and her brother's life), "For breaking my promise and almost getting you killed. I know you want to."

"I don't want to shout at you, Anna," Castiel said tiredly as he ceased his offhanded tapping, "I'm angry, of course, but I will never raise my voice at you because of it."

"You did one time," She pointed out, a sad smile lacing her thin lips, "A few years back when I was stupid but sane…" She trailed off as the memory came flooding back to her before she asked softly, "Cas, do you remember that day? When I..." _Abandoned me, _Castiel finished silently, _just like Gabe did._

Yes, he remember that day; it was the only time that he had ever felt true rage pumping through his veins as he realized his sister was leaving him (or them, more like, since Michael was alive back then) and never coming back. He had yelled a lot of things at her that day—a lot of hateful, ugly things that he had once thought he actually meant.

"You hated me back then," Anna blurted out suddenly as her eyes moved to stare numbly at her hands in her lap, "I knew it, too; I could feel it by the betrayal in your eyes as you stared at me like you were a pet left in the rain. And you basically were based on the awful ways people treated you—the way _I _treated you." She swallowed the lump in her throat as she continued, "I'm so sorry—"

"It's alright, Anna," Castiel cut her off stiffly as his grip on the edge of the table tightened, "That hatchet was buried a long time ago; please, let the memory be buried with it." Though he knew that was impossible.

Castiel can forgive, but he can never forget.

And somehow, he's pretty sure Anna knew that.

* * *

Audrey (or was it Amy?) was hot and all, but her excessive giggling was starting to really wear down Dean Winchester's patience. So, in the end, he decided to just give up on the silly college girl and scope out a new prey. But as he swept his gaze around the room, he finally caught sight of the Novaks (or two of them, at least; he didn't know where Gabriel was and he hoped he hadn't already found Sam). He smirked as he drained the last of his tall glass of beer and made his way over to them, though as he got closer to the duo, Dean could tell he might just be intruding on something as the two Novaks seemed to be entrapped in an intense staring match with each other.

But Dean was becoming bored and he couldn't find Sam, so he'll have to settle with being impolite as he greeted them cheerfully and slid in beside Castiel (there was no way in hell he was sitting next to the nut-job, that's for sure), "Long time no see, Novaks. What has it been? Thirty minutes?"

"Close to forty-five actually," Castiel pointed out, his body suddenly going rigid as he scooted the farthest away from the Winchester as possible (which Dean tried not to take too personally since he did, you know, tried to kill him earlier that night), "Hello, Dean."

"Hey, Cas," Dean greeted with a smirk before he reluctantly switched his gaze to Anna, who was watching him with glaring eyes and pursed lips, "Hi, Anna."

"What are you doing?" She demanded bluntly, causing Dean's eyebrows to knit together as he saw Castiel shoot her a venomous glare out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm sitting here," Dean informed her slowly, "Talking to you two."

"Yes, but why?" Anna asked in puzzlement and Dean could swear he saw a glint of hostility in her blue eyes (which were lighter and slightly less winsome than Castiel's, as Dean innocently noted). He guessed that she still might be bitter that he didn't _"hear the angels like she can." _

"I apologize, Dean," Castiel said suddenly, sending Anna a scolding look before flickering his gaze back to him, "Anna becomes slightly bad-tempered when she's tired."

"And there you go again," Anna mumbled under her breath, her eyes sullen but sharp as the knife Castiel had pulled on Dean only an hour ago, "Talking about me as if I'm not even here."

Cas ignored her and instead kept his gaze trained on Dean's face, and the Winchester boy silently confirmed that he liked Castiel's blue eyes way more than Anna's. His were much more deeper and richer—just like an electrifying ocean in the middle of a hurricane as the sea rippled and churned in the surrounding dark gray clouds that rained lighter specks of blue hues onto the shimmering midnight azure. They were ravishing and it took more effort than Dean would like to admit to look away from them.

"So…" Dean said slowly, clearing his throat like he always did when he was suddenly uncomfortable, "Have either of you seen Sam anywhere?"

"He's sitting beside Gabr—" Castiel began to say but stopped abruptly as his eyes narrowed at something behind Dean. The eldest Winchester followed the younger boy's gaze and found Gabriel sitting at the bar alone drinking what seemed like his seventh vodka shot.

"That's peculiar," He heard Castiel mumble under his breath, "I could have sworn he was there a minute ago."

"You should keep better track of your brother, Dean," Anna said sharply, causing Dean to stiffen as his jaw locked in annoyance, "You never know when a sibling could disappear—"

"_Anael." _By Castiel's tone, Anna (or Anael, or whatever the hell her name is) seemed to have said something that hit a little too close to home. Dean turned his gaze back just in time to see Anna flush in shame as she began glaring ruefully at the floor.

"Well, that sucks," Dean said to clear the tension in the air, "I was looking forward to beating his ass in pool."

"You can compete against Castiel," Anna told him, her eyes flickering back up to rest firmly on Dean, "I'm sure he would enjoy—"

Dean cut her off with a humored snort at the ridiculous '_completion,' _"Sorry, Sweetheart, but I don't think your brother has played a game of real pool in his life." Dean hadn't meant it as an insult nor a challenge (it was an innocent statement that, by looking at Castiel's delicate frame and preppy attire, appeared very factual), but Dean could have swore he thought he saw a flicker of unreadable emotion flash through Castiel's blue eyes.

"Are you referring to that strange wooden table over there?" Castiel asked in confusion, his head cocking to the side as his eye narrowed at the empty pool table.

Dean silently scoffed but put on a big smile as he nodded, "It's called a pool table, Cas."

"That's odd," Castiel muttered to himself, his brow furrowing as he looked to Dean, "It's not really a human-built body of water used for swimming purposes, is it, Dean?"

"No," Dean told him as he pointed to the cue stick, "To play pool, you take that long stick and try to hit balls into the holes on the table."

Castiel stared at the table for a moment and Dean could practically see the gears turning in his head before the boy finally shrugged, "It doesn't seem that difficult."

"Cas, there's more to it than—"

"Are you attempting to discourage me because you're afraid that I might be victorious in defeating you at phool?" Castiel said with an arched eyebrow.

Dean sighed, "It's _pool, _Cas. Not phool," He rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to put this without hurting the guy's feelings, "And I don't think it'll be as easy as you think it is."

"Then teach me," Castiel told him sternly, "If it's so effortless to you, then it should be easy to instruct its basic principles and guidelines to me."

Dean groaned, knowing Cas was dead set on learning how to play, and rolled his eyes as he said reluctantly, "Fine. Come on then." Castiel beamed as Dean led him over to the abandoned pool table and handed him a cue stick.

"Watch," Dean said as he set the balls up and placed the cue ball in position, "All you have to do is take this stick and hit the white ball into the other balls. Like this." He took himself a cue stick and aimed very carefully before hitting the ball hard enough for it the smack into the triangular pile of the other ones, causing the balls to scatter in different directions. He didn't hit any in, but that was usual since the first turn was only used to help separate the balls around the pool table randomly.

Dean noticed the slight awe in Castiel's gaze at his fluid motion and smirked as he racked the balls up again and handed the stick to Cas, "Your turn, Tiger." Castiel nodded intently as he attempted to mimic Dean's stance when he aimed, which he failed quite miserably at it.

Dean rolled his eyes, "No, Dude, like _this._" Tentatively, Dean hovered over Castiel and lightly fixed the blue eyed boy's posture to the appropriate pose. But just as Dean's hands touched him, Castiel stilled and remained with his muscles clenched until the Winchester was finally finished and took a few steps back (which was seriously starting to hurt, Dean might add).

"Okay, now aim the white ball and try to hit the other ones." Dean instructed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Castiel nodded and stayed completely still for what seemed like forever before he finally pulled the stick back and hit the white ball with all of his might…which then made the cue ball miss all the other billiard ball completely, fly off the table, and hit the wall with such a hard _SLAP _that everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing and looked over at them.

"My apologies," Castiel said as he cleared his throat awkwardly and addressed the whole bar, "Please, continue conversing and drinking to oblivion." With a few more wary glances and dirty looks, the crowd reluctantly turned back and carried on as if nothing occurred.

"I suppose that wasn't a good thing." Castiel said in an uncertain tone as Dean walked over and picked the cue ball back up.

"Second time's a charm." Dean encouraged as he set the white ball back on the table and moved away for Castiel to give it another go. The second attempt went remarkably better—this time, he lessened the force so the white ball stayed on the table and hit the other ones, though he barely broke them apart more than an inch or two.

"Good job." Dean said, trying his hardest to appear sincere.

"I think I've got the hang out of it," Castiel said with a proud smile as he handed another cue stick, "Now we can play."

Dean sighed, "Cas, I don't think that's—"

"Oh come on, Dean-o," Sometime during their lesson, Gabriel had stumbled his way over there and was now standing over beside Anna, his grin mocking and his eyes twinkling as if he was holding back a silent laugh, "Give the ole rookie a shot."

Dean's eyes narrowed at him, knowing he was only encouraging this to mock Castiel and his incompetence of billiards but the excited fluttery feeling deep inside his gut at competing against someone (even someone as clueless as Cas) finally won him out as he sighed tiredly and turned around to face Cas, "Fine, but fair warning: I've been playing this since I was a kid, so don't feel bad if," _More like when, _"You lose. Okay?"

"Don't worry, Dean," Castiel said as he set up the balls just like Dean had just a few minutes ago, "I'll try not to take the loss to heart. May I break?"

Dean shrugged as he moved out of the way, "Go for it, Man."

Castiel smiled at him for a moment before he leaned down and took aim. Dean thought it was going to take forever for the guy to shoot considering how long he had to wait for Castiel to finally hit the thing, but just seconds after getting into position, Cas sent the white ball smacking loudly into the rack of balls with incredible ease. Instantly, the balls went flying around the table in utter pandemonium for a few seconds before one striped ball went into a pocket. Then a second one did, third, fourth…

In that one smooth break, five striped balls sunk down in the pockets as a few others teetered on the edges, just waiting to be taken out. It was a shockingly beautiful shot and it took Dean a moment to realize who exactly made it.

"Is that good, Dean?" Castiel's curious voice caused Dean to snap out of his startled stupor as the eldest Winchester brother switched his wide gaze to him.

If it wasn't for Castiel's eyes, Dean would honestly think that he was actually being serious. But as he stared into those dancing blue eyes that were lit up in pure mockery and amusement, Dean Winchester knew he had just been hustled.

"You tricked me," He finally blurted out once he recovered from his surprise and regained his voice, "You knew how to play."

"Of course not, Dean," Castiel said exasperatedly but while the boy's face was completely blank, Dean could hear the evident smirk in his condescending voice, "I haven't played a game of _real _pool in my entire life, remember?"

"Oh Dean-o, I forgot to mention," Gabriel said with a wicked grin, "Cassie here got second place in the national pool tournament when he was just fourteen years old."

Dean wanted to feel pissed off and humiliated like he would have if any other joker pulled that stunt, but thinking back to how much of an offhanded jackass he acted when he declared that there was no way a guy looking like Castiel could _ever _know how to play such a manly game, Dean realized he kind of deserved it.

"Do you wish to continue our game, or have I made my point?" Castiel asked with a mocking tilt of his head.

Yes, he did make his point but Dean was damned if he would give up without a fight.

"Fifty bucks says I can win and wipe that smirk off your face." Dean challenged, causing Castiel's small grin to widen.

"Fine, Dean, but fair warning: I've been playing this since I was a kid, so don't feel bad if you lose. Okay?" Castiel said, matching Dean's earlier tone.

"Who would've thought a nice guy like you could be such an ass?" Dean asked with an eye roll as Castiel scoffed and took aim for his next shot.

The game was embarrassingly short and let's just say Dean's wallet felt lighter once he stuck it back in his pocket.

"You're a cheating dick, Cas." Dean stated bluntly, though his grin betrayed his true emotions.

"And you are a judgmental, trigger-happy simpleton, Dean." Castiel said with a shrug as he stuffed his newly acquired fifty dollars into his coat pocket.

"Cassie," Gabriel began as he walked over and laced his arm around Castiel's waist (seriously, Dean had never met such a person who was so handsy with his own family), "Hate to interrupt you and your new boyfriend, but I think Annie and I are ready to split."

Castiel nodded immediately but Dean could swear he saw the younger man's shoulders sag ever so slightly, "Of course."

"You don't have to leave if you don't want to," Dean blurted out before he could hold his tongue, causing both Novak brothers to turn to look at him questionably, "I mean, if you want to stay while Gabe and Anna leave, Sammy and I can drive you to your motel when you're ready."

A corner of Castiel's lips twitched, as if he was going to smile but decided against it at the very last second, before he shook his head, "No, Gabriel's drunk and there's no way I'm letting Anna drive—"

"It's okay, Cassie," Gabriel assured him, "Go on ahead and stay up pass your bedtime. Anna and I'll take a cab to the motel and you can drive my car."

Castiel sighed, looking torn between having some fun and his responsibility, "Gabriel, I can't. Anna—"

"—will be just fine," Gabriel finished sternly before his eyes softened as he said gently, "I can take care of her for one night, Castiel. I'm not _that _much of a screw-up."

Castiel stared at him and said quietly, "Gabe, you're not a—"

"Look, it's settled," Gabriel cut him off in a firm tone as he turned his attention to Dean and raised a warning finger at him, "Take care of my baby brother, Dean-o. I know you're still mad about me and Sammy's epic love affair—"

"You just met him a few hours ago!" Dean exclaimed, "There is no affair!"

"—but I'm going to ask you to put your many deserved jealousies aside and help the Luigi to my Mario out." Gabriel continued, actually looking serious for once.

"Don't worry," Dean said as he rolled his eyes and clasped Castiel's shoulder, "We'll be fine. We're just going to try to find a game I can successfully beat him at."

"Yea, good luck with that." Gabriel snorted as he turned around and made his way over to the door where Anna was standing, who was looking absolutely miserable. Gabriel mumbled something lowly to Anna that made her brow furrow as she casted a glance at Dean and Castiel. Dean looked over to Cas as he gave his sister what seemed like an apologetic look, but that only seemed to make Anna angry as she glared furiously at Dean for a moment before storming out of the door. It was fairly obvious to Dean that Anna wasn't used to Castiel choosing something over her, however little it may be.

By Anna's reaction, Castiel looked like he was ready to run after her, but Gabriel quickly waved him off as he disappeared through the exit and ran to catch up with her.

"Well," Dean began slowly as he turned to look over to Castiel, "Wanna drink?"

"I don't drink alcohol," Castiel told him seriously as he matched his stare, "It fogs up the mind and poisons the liver."

"That's a shocker," Dean mumbled sarcastically as he and Castiel filed into a booth and Dean called the bartender over, "Two beers."

"Dean, I said I don't drink." Castiel said lowly to him once the bartender left.

Dean snorted and rolled his eyes, "Who said any of them were for you?"

* * *

"Favorite song?" Dean asked with cocked eyebrow as he continued to drain his second beer.

"Rocket Man by Elton John," Castiel told him with a ghost of a smile on his face as he stared down at the wooden table between them and continued, "My father loved it; he used to sing it to us every single night to help us go the sleep since we never really liked motel rooms."

"Interesting choice," Dean complimented, grinning, "Your dad sounds pretty awesome."

"He was." Cas agreed, his tone softening as his gaze intensified, "My father was a great, devout man."

Dean noticed Castiel's sorrowful voice and he couldn't help but ask awkwardly, "Is he…?"

"Dead," Castiel finished with a wry smile as he looked back up to Dean and shook his head, "I have no idea. He disappeared when I was twelve. My eldest brother, Michael who was only twenty at the time, was forced to become head of the family after he vanished and devoted everything we had to finding him. I used to look up to him for that—I thought it was noble and righteous. But now…" He trailed off and went mute for a moment before continuing, "I realize how selfish it really was for him to force us to stay hung up on the man instead of learning how to cope with the fact that he was gone and there was no bringing him back."

"But it was his father," Dean said a little too snappish before he could stop himself, feeling defensive of the man he had never met, "He couldn't just go on with life and pretend like it never happened while his dad was out probably suffering at the hands of the son of a bitch that took him."

"We searched for nine years, Dean," Castiel told him in a hollow, bitter voice, "We never found him. The only reason we finally stopped looking for him was when Michael disappeared, too. Now he, however, we did find."

"Where is he now?" Dean asked softly, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"Dead." Castiel answered bluntly with no trace of emotion in his flat voice. It went deadly quiet for a whole beat before Castiel spoke again, "What's your favorite monster to hunt?"

Dean was relieved at the change of subject and thought about for a moment before replying, "I don't know…personally, I enjoy the pleasing sensation of seeing the life drain out of their eyes quite evenly among them. You?"

"Ghosts," Castiel told him, "It's more of a mystery than an actual hunt and requires more mental power than physical."

"I can't tell you how many times a ghost has screwed me over," Dean said, "I mean, one threw me in a muddy river once! I mean, I had mud everywhere, Cas. And I mean _everywhere._"

Castiel chuckled, "Gabriel almost got sold into prostitution in result of a ghost one time."

Dean stared at him with a raised eyebrow before declaring, "Okay, I have _got _to hear that story."

"Okay, it was five years ago—"

"There you are," Suddenly, Sam's relieved voice cut Castiel off as Dean and Cas turn to see Sam walking towards them, "C'mon, let's go. Gabriel told everyone here I was gay and now five guys have already asked for my number."

"Fine," Dean sighed out, barely listening as he threw his keys to Sam, "Take my baby and go pout in our room. I'll probably be there soon…ish."

Sam's brow furrowed in confusion and he opened his mouth to say something but Castiel cut him off, "You can leave with your brother, Dean, if you wish. You're not required to stay just because of my presence." At Castiel's voice, Sam tensed as he looked over at the boy in surprise, eyes widening as if he had just noticed Cas was there.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Sam apologized, cutting Dean a puzzled sideways glance, "I guess I'll just go…"

"Yea, you do that," Dean encouraged, not entirely understanding why he was so eager to be alone with Cas again, "I'll be there later."

Sam started nodding slowly as he said his goodbyes and left, obviously bewildered at his brother's behavior just as much as Dean himself was.

"So," Dean began as he emptied his beer glass, "Which would you rather bang: A starving vampire, or a werewolf during a full moon?"

Castiel stared at him dumbfounded for a moment before he cleared his throat, "I would prefer neither. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't believe I would risk my life just to satisfy sexual needs." There was a beat of silence before Castiel added in an uncertain tone, "What about you?"

"Depends on how good the sex would be." Dean said with a wicked grin.

Castiel's eyes got as wide as saucers as he opened his mouth to reply when a phone rang. Quickly, Cas shut his mouth and dug around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out his buzzing cellphone and answered it, "Hello?" Dean faintly heard someone on the other line talking fast and loudly before Cas finally cut them off, "Gabriel, slow down. What happened?" With every mumbled word Dean heard, Castiel's face grew whiter and whiter until he blurted out weakly, "Gabe, is Anna okay?"

There was a pause of silence before Dean finally heard Gabriel's muffled reply, "Cas…they found us." As soon as those words left Gabriel's mouth, Castiel abruptly stood up and bolted out of the bar.

* * *

Castiel drove down the dark highway as fast as his crappy car could go and Dean, who was sitting in the passenger seat as he followed Cas out of the bar and piled into the car since the younger man had no time to protest, tried his best to keep his demanding questions at bay. The vehicle was silent, adding to the dripping tension in the thick atmosphere.

But after a few agonizing minutes of hearing nothing but Castiel's uneven breathing, Dean finally cleared his throat and said softly, "Cas—"

"Why are you here, Dean?" He cut him off short with an honest, blunt question and if it wasn't for his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel that was trembling, Dean would think Castiel was perfectly calm by the even level of his collected voice, "Was it just your inner hunter's curiosity? Because if it is, I'll slow down the car right now and push you out. This isn't a hunt, Dean Winchester, it's a nightmare—my nightmare."

"Cas, I'm coming because I'm worried about you," Dean was shocked at how honest those words really were, "And even if Gabriel's a dick and Anna is c—"

"Don't say it," Castiel commanded as he let out a shaky breath, "Please, just don't."

"And Anna is _quirky_," Dean continued, scolding himself for almost getting his ass kicked out of the car, "I don't want anything to happen to them." He paused before adding, "Look, this may not be a hunt, but it _is _a monster problem, right?"

Castiel didn't answer before he reluctantly agreed, "Somewhat."

"Then you obviously don't need to go alone." Dean told him sternly, reaching for his knife that he kept with him at all times, "So, I'm gonna be your back-up. That's the thing about hunters, Cas, we protect our own."

"You don't understand," Castiel said quietly to himself as he pushed the gas pedal down all the way to the floor, "Nobody can."

"I understand losing a father, I understand having many responsibilities that shouldn't be yours to begin with, I understand the profound love you have for your siblings…I understand because all those statements describe _me_, too."

"Back at the bar, when you became defensive of Michael's actions," Castiel began slowly, "Is that because you're still searching for your own father?"

Dean wasn't going to answer—he didn't _want _to answer, but he knew if he wanted answers from Cas, he'll have to give some too, "Yea."

"Little piece of advice, Dean...just stop while you still can," Castiel told him bluntly, flickering his gaze to stare at Dean with misery filled eyes, "It always ends in heartbreak."

* * *

As he finally parked Gabriel's stupid automobile in their motel's driveway, Castiel flung himself out of the car and raced to his room, Dean Winchester following close behind him. _Please let them be okay, _Castiel prayed—something he hadn't done in quite a while now, _God, I'm begging you, don't take them away from me and leave me all alone._

As he reached the door with their motel room number on it, Castiel realized that the wooden door was already cracked open just a sliver. With one last painful inhale of oxygen, Castiel pushed the door open…and the first thing he saw was blood—lots and lots of blood.

The once dirty brown carpet was stained in an ugly scarlet color and the overwhelming metallic smell made Castiel's head spin. The place was trashed with both beds flipped over and what little furniture the room had was broken and scattered around the small perimeter. The walls had big splotches of hot, sticky blood and even a few flickered specks of the red liquid decorated the ceiling.

"Cas." Gabriel's hoarse voice made Castiel jump but he had no time to react before his brother threw his arms around him and forced Castiel's head to be buried in the crook of his neck as Gabe whispered over and over to him, "I'm so sorry, Cassie. I didn't know. Please, forgive me. Please…"

"Where's Anna?" Castiel demanded as he tore himself out of Gabriel's tight grasp and stepped further into the blood soaked room. And that's when he saw her:

Anna was sitting on her knees with her head bowed down, looking as if she was praying as she whispered rapid incoherent things that only sounded right in her own ears. She was covered in blood but to Castiel's relief, none of it was hers. Neither was it Gabriel's. So whose—

As Castiel moved closer as he stood right beside where Anna sat, he finally saw them. Over a dozen severed heads laid perfectly stacked in a neat row lined a wall and Castiel faintly recognized them as the other residences that was staying at the motel room. Castiel had to cover his mouth to keep his rising vomit down as he narrowed his eyes and discovered that every head's eye sockets where their eyes were supposed to reside was blackened with ash—as if someone, or _something, _had burned their eyes out.

Not being able to stare at the products of the dozen of lives that were slaughtered because of them, Castiel raised his gaze to the wall and felt a bolt of lightning shoot down his spine once he recognized the ancient symbols written in the blood of their innocent victims.

"What the hell is that?" Dean's voice behind him didn't register for a few moments until Castiel realized he was speaking to him.

"It's Enochian," Castiel felt himself say breathlessly, yet how he knew that was beyond him as his mouth seemed under the control of another, "The language of the divine."

"Well…what does it say?"

Castiel swallowed the lump in his throat as the foreign meaning of the bloody scribbled flooded his mind and poured out of his lips, _"Ye shall drink the wine of God's wrath and be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels."_

"I told you so," Anna whispered as she tipped her head back and stared at Cas with terrifying pure white eyes, "I told you death would happen tonight."

* * *

**Author's Note: Ahh...don't you just love foreshadowing and cliffhangers? And ooh, what are the Novaks hiding from Dean? Well, that's what he would like to know xD. But I'm pleased to inform you that Bobby makes an appearance next chapter, and we also learn from him a few more things about the Novaks' mysterious past (because what Castiel told Dean this chapter isn't really the whole story...) And the message _someone _left on the walls in Enochian is from a paraphrased bible verse, so please don't give any of that credit to me.**

**Also: Because of everyone's heart-warming comments and constant encouragement, I have decided I am going to put Sabriel as the second pairing to this fic (I was a little mixed feelings about it at first since I didn't know if I would be able to write it right, but you guys have convinced me otherwise so kudos to you). But anyway, until next time, loyal readers! **

**Side Note: Please review-It makes updating a whole lot faster.**


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